Apple desperately needs to shake up its iPhone Pro colors. The brand-new iPhone 14 Pro — in the exotic-sounding “deep purple” color — actually looks like a dull gray in real life.

When Apple marketing chief Greg “Joz” Joswiak revealed the new deep purple color at last month’s Far Out product launch, I immediately thought of “Smoke on the Water.” I envisioned a bold hue that would actually look trippy and unique. And I thought maybe Cupertino’s brightest minds finally broke free from the iPhone Pro’s typically mundane color palette.

What was I smoking?

The Apple Pencil can open up a whole new dimension for creativity on your iPad. But does your creativity really cost $129? An Apple Pencil alternative can offer many of the same features, allowing you to sketch on your iPad — or any other tablet — without breaking the bank.

For example, the Digi Pen comes highly recommended by users. And it’s on sale right now for $39.99, more than half off its regular price.

The iPhone 14 Pro is raising the bar for on-the-go photography, but unless Apple adds propellers in next year’s models, you’re going to have to search somewhere else for a new camera perspective. That road might lead you to the Ninja Dragon Storm X, a drone with a dual 4K camera setup that’s easy to fly, even if you’ve never touched the controls before.

Garden Tails: Match and Grow is a new match-3 game for nature lovers who are looking for a calming time-killer. Play through a series of levels to unlock flowers, bushes and friendly animals.

It debuted Friday on Apple Arcade, and there are versions for a range of Apple computers.

Bad Sisters takes a look at John Paul’s mental health in a particularly solid episode of the murderously funny Apple TV+ hit. The series, about a family covering up a murder in the present — and trying to commit it in the past — takes a madcap turn this week.

Bibi is mad with grief, Grace is a broken woman, Roger’s going to jail and Becka’s falling in love. Plus, we get the funniest scene of the season. A fine showing from the cast helps this week’s episode get a good head of steam going in time for a great final sequence of dark slapstick.

Anyone having activation problems with their iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro series model should install iOS 16.0.1. Apple specifically created the update to deal with an issue in setting up its latest handset.

It also takes care of other bugs in the iPhone 14 series.

A new case is a good way to protect your pricey new iPhone 14 from scrapes and drops. But it’s not the only protective measure you should take, whether or not you pay for Apple Care insurance. You might also want to get a screen protector to safeguard the HDR display and a shield for those fabulous camera lenses.

The Cult of Mac Store has the goods you need. Its screen and lens protector collection features six screen protectors and one lens protector from two of our favorite brands, all at great prices.

War seems inevitable on this week’s episode of See, the Apple TV+ show about a world that lost its sight and its mind. Harlan gets closer to divining the nature of the explosive coup being plotted in Trivantes, and deposed queen Sibeth Kane is in the wind and shacking up with a serpent.

Baba Voss and his family go looking for trouble, and there are vendettas aplenty that need settling. All in all, it stands as a decent episode that exhibits few of the show’s worst habits.

Five Days at Memorial, the riveting Apple TV+ drama about a hospital staff enduring Hurricane Katrina’s wrath — and the aftermath of their decisions under pressure and hellish conditions — comes to a close this week.

In the miniseries finale, entitled “Reckoning,” Dr. Anna Pou may or may not be put on trial for murder. And investigators Arthur “Butch” Schafer and Virginia Rider come up against the limitations of justice when a city’s future is on trial.

This tremendous series ends on a cloud of doubt, with the promise of lives lived in suffering and uncertainty.

The first set of iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max preorders began arriving for customers around the world Friday morning. Further, the phones are now on sale in more than 30 markets.

Apple Watch Series 8 and 2022 Apple Watch SE preorders are also arriving for customers today.